Bandera was said to have been named by Indians, according to Herman Lehman, who was captured by the Apaches in 1870, later lived with the Comanches, and at age 65 told Bandera historian J. Marvin Hunter that the Comanches said the name came from events at Bandera Pass. After the 1732 battle at Bandera Pass between the Apaches and Spaniards, a council was held and a treaty was made, and in token of the agreement a red flag was placed on the highest peak of the pass as a warning to both parties. In 1841, at the same pass, a regiment of 40 Texas Rangers led by Captain John Coffee Hayes was attacked by Comanches, and the rangers, armed with new Colt Six-Shooters, defeated them. After that battle, Indians would gather on the hills surrounding the small town, point their arrows at it, and say Bandera, a Spanish word meaning flag. Bandera was founded in the early 1800s by Charles D. Montel, John James, and John Herndon, and it became a historic cowboy town of cattle drives, saloons, dance halls, and gunfights. From the early 1900s, it has been known throughout the USA, Canada, and the world as the Cowboy Capital of the World.

Photo: James Hulse

Photo: James Hulse

Photo: James Hulse

Bandera, Texas · USA